Air conditioning apparatus



Dec. 26, 1939. 5. J. LEVlNE AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed May 13, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor. Samuel J. Levine,

b His Attorney Dec. 26, 1939.

5. J. LEVINE AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filled May 15, 193s 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 4.

Fig. 3.

Fig. 5.

Inventor: Samuel J. Levine His Attorney S. J. LEVINE AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed May 13, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Invent or: Samuel J.Levine,

Patented Dec. 26, 1939 UNITED STATES 2,184,354 AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Samuel J. Levine, East Orange, N. J., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application May '13, 1936, Serial No. 79,511.

6 Claims.

My invention relates to air conditioning apparatus.

It is an object of my invention to provide an apparatus including a refrigerating machine for cooling and dehumidifying the air within an enclosure and an improved arrangement of ducts for circulating throughthe apparatus the air to be conditioned and for expelling from the enclosure moisture removed from the air in the m enclosure.

Another object of my invention is to provide a unitary apparatus for conditioning the air within an enclosure, including a removable refrigerating machine having an evaporator and a con- 15 denser and cooperating with the duct structure of the apparatus to complete a plurality of air circulating paths therethrough.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the following de- 20 scription proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation view, partly in section, of an air conditioning unit embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sec- 30' tional side view along the line 33 of the unit shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a side elevation view, partly in section, of the unit shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of'the condensatev disposal arrangement shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a reduced side elevation view, partly in section, of the inner casing of the unit shown in Fig. 1 with the refrigerating machines removed therefrom, one of the machines being shown in front of the casing; Fig. '7 is a sectional perspec tive rear view of the unit shown in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 8 is a sectional perspective front view of the upper portion of the unit.

Referring now to the drawings, in Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown an air conditioning unit for cool- 45 ing and dehumidifying the air within an enclosure. The air conditioning unit comprises an inner casing Ill having a plurality of fans or blowers l l and I2 arranged in scrolls or casings Na and l2a, respectively, in the upper" or air duct 50 portion of the inner casing. The fans H and I 2 are arranged on a common shaft' and driven by a motor l3 at the center thereof. In the lower or machinery portion of the casing 10 are arranged three removable refrigerating machines 55 I4, one being shown in the cut away portion of Figs. 1, 3, and '7. A removable casing. l5 surrounds the. casing Ill on the front, top and sides and provides an air space about the casing l0." Each of the refrigerating machines I4 is provided I with an evaporator or air cooling element I6 for 5 absorbing heat and a condenser l1 for rejecting heat, both removable with the machine as a unit. The upper portion of the inner casing I0 is provided with a plurality of partitions so arranged that when the machines M are in place in the 10 lower portion of the casing, the fans ll circulate air received from the enclosure to be conditioned and also fresh 'air over the evaporators and thence into the room, thereby cooling and dehumidifying the air. The arrangement of the partitions also provides an air circulating duct through which the fans I! circulate fresh air as a cooling me dium from outside the enclosure over the condensers and other warm portions of the refrigerating machines l4 and thence out of the enclosure. The fans ll thus serve to circulate air over the evaporators and through the enclosure while the fans l2 circulate cooling air over the condensers and the refrigerating machines. In the drawings, the completed path of the air circulated over the condensersand the completed refrigerating machines is indicated by heavy solid and dotted arrows, and the path'of the air circulated over the evaporators and into the room or otherenclosure to be conditioned is indicated by light solid and dotted arrows. Each of the refrigerating machines l4 comprises a closed casing Iii within whichis arranged a motor and a compressor and which is mounted on a frame I9, together with one of the .35 evaporators l6 and one of the conclensers'l'l.v Gaseous refrigerant is, compressed'by operation of the compressor within thecasing l8 and is discharged through a conduit 20 to the condenser H. The compressed refrigerant in the condenser 40 I1 is cooled and thereby liquefied and then flows through a connection 2| to a liquid receiver 22 mounted on the frame l9 near the bottom there- ,of. The liquid refrigerant is withdrawn from receiver 22 through a liquid line23 upon operation of a fiow' controlling device 24', which may .beoi' J any desirable type, such as a thermostatically operated valve responsive to the temperature of the refrigerant withdrawn from the evaporator I I6. From the valve 24' the refrigerant flows through a connection 25 to the evaporator l6.-

. The liquid refrigerant within the evaporator l6 7 is vaporized by the absorption of heat from the air passing over the evaporator and the vaporized refrigerant is withdrawn from the evaporator through a suction line 2li having an enlarged portion 21 through which passes the liquid line 23. This arrangement of the liquid and suction lines provides a heat exchanger for absorbing heat from the liquid refrigerant before it passes to the valve 24, thereby utilizing the heat absorbing capacity of the vaporized refrigerant withdrawn from the evaporator to increase the economy of operation of the refrigerating machine. The gaseous refrigerant after passing through the. heat exchanger is returned to the casing I8.

An inclined pan or plate 28 is provided below the evaporator I 6 in order. to complete the evaporator air path and to catch moisture condensed on the coils of the evaporator. The moisture collected flows through a tube 29 having a bend or trap 2912 at the lower end thereof and falls into a pan or plate 30 extending the width of the refrigerating machine assembly. The front half or portion of the condenser I1 is directly above the pan 30 and is divided from the rear portion by a vertical partition 3| extending the length of the condenser. The condensed moisture which collects in the pan 30 is absorbed in the air stream passing over the condenser and thereby removed from the apparatus and discharged to the atmosphere outside of the enclosure to be conditioned. The manner in which this arrangement operates to remove the condensed moisture will be hereinafter more fully described.

' When the refrigerating machines I4 are placed within the cabinet I0 they rest upon a base 32 of the cabinet, and a front plate 33 is secured 'over the front opening of the cabinet through which the refrigerating machines have been inserted. When the machines are in place a sealing gasket of rubber or other suitable material 34 secured to the top of partition 3| engages a flange 35 at the bottom of a vertical partition 36 in the upper portion of the cabinet, and the pan 28 rests against the lower edge of a vertical par-' tition 31 in the upper portion of the cas ing. The evaporator I6 lies closely adjacent the lower end of a vertical partition 38 in the upper portion, of the casing, the partition covering the upper half of the side of the evaporator. When the pan 28 is in engagement with the lower end of the partition 31 it seals the air space surrounding the evaporator I6 from the air space surrounding the condenser II, the only communication between the evaporator and condenser compartments being through the tube 29.

-The bend 29a at the bottom of the tube 29 acts as a liquid trap and prevents the passage of air through the tube 29 between the condensehand evaporator compartments.

A vertical" wall 61 .is arranged between the scrolls Ma and I2a of each set of fans and separates the fans II and I 2. Vertical walls 58 close each of the fan scrolls I2a and are provided with openings 69 through which air is admitted to the fans I2. Vertical walls Ill close the outer sides of the scroll Ila and are provided with openings II through which air is admitted to the fans II. The vertical walls 61, 68' and 10 extend between the rear wall of the casing III and the partition 38; the upper ends of the blower compartments thus formed are .closed by the top of the casing I0 .and the lower ends between partitions 36 and v38 are closed by plates I2.

The fan scrolls-J la and I2a are thus enclosed in boxlike compartments in the upper portion of the casing, the compartments being provided with the inlet and outlet openings of the fans.

In order to provide communication between the casing I0 and the exterior of the building, an air duct 39 is provided passing through the wall 40 of the building as shown in Fig. 3. The duct 39 is provided with a fresh air intake opening at its outer end at the bottom thereof and two horizontal air discharge ducts 42, arranged one at each side of the duct in the upper portion thereof. The ducts 42 have discharge openings 43 and direct the expelled air horizontally away from the downwardly opening fresh air intake 4| as shown clearly in Fig. 7.

Outside air is drawn in through the opening I 4| and the duct 39 and enters a duct or passage 44 extending the width of the casing I0 above the rear or right-hand portion of the condensers I1, and passes down through inclined filters 45 arranged in the lower end of passage 44. The front filter 45 is supported on the flange 35 and the rear filter on a flange 46 secured to the outer wall of the casing I0. Dust and other impurities are removed by the filters and the air passes down over the right-hand or rear portions of the condenser I'I between the wall of the casing I0 and the partitions 3|. This path of the condenser cooling air is indicated by heavy arrows and can be followed clearly in Figs. 3 and 7. The air flows downwardly over the casings I8 and cools the casings and then circulates about the liquid receivers 22, the heat exchangers 21 and the valves 24 moving upwardly and then being directed downwardly over the pans 30. A baffle plate 41 is provided on the front edge of each of the pans 30 to produce a swirling action of the air, and a baffle 48 is provided above each of the pans 30 and extending downwardly from the pans 28 to force the air downwardly against the water in the pans 30 and upwardly through the left-hand or front portions of the condensers IT. From the condensers the air flows up through a duct or passage 49 between the partitions 36 and 31 and around the motor l3 and into the fans I2 which discharge thefair from the casing through the ducts 42. The lower portion of the passage 49 extends entirely across the casing I0 below the bottom wall I2 of the blower compartments above the left-hand portions of the condensers I! as shown in Figs. 3 and 7, and the portion of the passage 49 above the middle condenser I'I extends upwardly between. the walls 68 to conduct the air around the motor I3 and thence through the openings 69 into the fans I2. This construction can be seen clearly in Fig. 7. The condenser cooling air is thus circulated in such a manner as to cool the warm portions of the refrigerating machines and the fan motor as well as the condensers.

The air passing over the pans 30 vaporizes some of the water and also throws particles of the water over the extended surface of the condensers I1, thereby cooling the condensers and vaporizhand side of thecondenser ll of one of the refrigerating ,machines I4. During the operation of the fans l2 the air passes at a high velocity between the baflies 41 and I8 downwardly onto the surface of the water in the pan 30. This violently agitates .the water in the pan and throws particles of water upwardly with the air stream onto coil 58 of the condenser II. The coil 58 is provided with fins which, form an extended heat radiating surface. The water thrown onto the condenser cools the coil by absorbing heat therefrom as it is vaporized. The vaporization of water produced by the passing of the air over the water in the pan and over the water blown onto the coil 58 is accomplished at a sufficient rate to remove all of the water condensed on the evaporator l6 without overflow from the pan 38.

Ihe air which is to be conditioned and discharged into the room is. a mixture of fresh air and air withdrawn from the room for recirculation. When the outer casing I5 is in place an air space is formed between the outer cover and the casing l9. Fresh air is admitted to this space through an opening 52 in the rear wall of the casing in providing communication with the duct 39. The size of the opening 52 may be varied by moving' a segmental damper 53 pivoted at 54 on an operating rod 55 having a knob 59 accessible from the front of the casing. Fresh air enters from the duct 39 passes through the opening 52 into a passage 51 formed between the casing I!) an extension 36a of wall 36 and a horizontal wall 13 and extending between the two walls 68. The air passes out of passage 51 through an opening 58 into the space between the cover [5 and the casing II). The casing I5 is provided with a plurality of louvers 59 at the ends of the casing in the lower portion thereof, and through these louvers air from the room enters the space between the cover l5 and the casing Ill. The path of the fresh and recirculated air to be conditioned is indicated by light arrows. As shown in Fig. 8 the mixture of fresh and recirculated air in the space between the inner casing l8 and the outer casing l5 passes throughfilters 69 at either end of the casing l8 into the fans I i-through openings H and is forced by operation of the fans through fan outlets GI and thence into a duct or passage 62 extending entirely across the casing l8 above the evaporators l6 and below a horizontal wall "62a, which forms a part of the top wall of casing Hi. The air then passes downwardly over the evaporators l6 where it is cooled and dehumidified, the condensed moisture flowing from the surface of the evaporators into the pans 28 and thencethrough the tubes 29 to the pans 38. The air is discharged from the evaporators into a duct or passage 63 formed between the vertical partitions 31 and 38; the lower portion of the passage 63 extends entirely'across the casing l8 below the walls 12 of the fan compartments. The air then passes upwardly through the passage 63 above the middle one of the refrigerating machines I4 and between the walls 68 and thence into-the room through an opening 63a in casing l0 and an opening 64 in the casing I5, the'opening being provided with a grill 65. The air space between the casing l5 and the inner casing I8 is sealed from the air discharged from the passage 63 by a gasket 66 extending around the openings 63a and 64 between the cover and the casing.

From the foregoing it will be noted that the condenser cooling fan is located at the outlet of the condenser air path while the air conditioning fan is located at the inlet of the evaporator air path. It is evident then that when the indoor and outdoor pressures are substantially the same, the air flowing through the condenser pathmust be at a lower pressure than the air flowing through the evaporator path, the condenser air being on the suction side ofthe condenser fans whilethe evaporator air is on the discharge side" of the evaporator fans. Therefore, if there are any air leaks-between the, evaporator and the condenser chambers there will tend to be a flow of air from the evaporator path to the condenser path and a minimum tendency for the warm condenser air to leak into the cooling compartment and thereby reduce the cooling capacity of the conditioning unit.

The louvers 59 through which the recirculated or room air is admitted are arranged in the lower portion of the casing l5 in" order to minimize the transmission of sound from the apparatus within the casing III to the room, it being evident that there is an extended and tortuous path for the airbetween the louvers 59 and the fan inlet opening covered by the filters 69. This extended path muffles the sound produced by the fans and the fan motor and minimizes the transmission of sound through the louvers 59 into the room. Furthermore, it is evident that the air path between the fans H and the discharge opening covered by the grill 65 is also an extended tortu-' ous path and minimizes the transmission to the room of the sound-produced by the fans.

In Fig. 6 I have shown the refrigerating machines H removed from the casing III to show clearly the removable and stationary portions. The arrangement of the removable refrigerating, machines and the baflie plates including the pans 28 and 38 thereon is such that when the machines are in place in the lower portion of the casing I0 they utilize the duct work in the upper portion of the casing to complete two separate circulating paths, the one path circulating air over the condenser and warrrr parts of the refrigerating machine and the other over the evaporator. This arrangement makes it possible to provide an air conditioning unit having refrigerating ma chine units which may be removed completely without disconnecting any of the parts of the refrigerant circuits of the machine, and it is,

therefore, possible to place a substitute machine in the casing while one of the machines is being repaired and thereby avoid interruption of service.

During the operation of the air conditioning unit illustrated, amixture of recirculated and fresh air is cooled and dehuinidifled and discharged into the room and at the same time the refrigerating machine is cooled by outside air,

and all of the moisture condensed from the air within the room is discharged to the outside with the condenser cooling air. It is unnecessary to provide any plumbing connections or any refrigerant circuit connections outside of the conditioner. The unit may readily be moved when desired, the duct 39 being adapted to be placed in the window opening of a room.

While I have described my invention in connection with an air conditioning unit for conditioning individual rooms, it will be understood that it is applicable to other types of air conditioners. I do not, therefore, desire my invention to be limited to the particular construction shown and described and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications thereof which do not depart from the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Apparatus for conditioning the air within an enclosure, including a casing having an air duct portion and a machinery portion and an air inlet and an air outlet opening for said air duct portion, means including a partition in said air duct portion for providing two ducts one extending from each of said openings and opening into said machinery portion of said casing,

a frame having mounted thereon a refrigerating machine having aheat absorbing element and 10 a heat rejecting element, said frame and said machine being arranged within said machinery portion of said casing and being removable therefrom as a unit, means including a baflie mounted on said frame and adapted to engage walls of said ducts when saidframe is in position in said casing for connecting said ducts and completing an air circulating path from said inlet opening to said outlet opening and for enclosing said heat absorbing element in said path, means 20 for circulating air through said path from said inlet opening to said outlet opening to cool said air, and means for circulating a cooling medium 'over' said heat rejecting element to' cool said heat rejecting element.

25 2. Apparatus for conditioning the air within an enclosure including a casing having an air duct portion and a machinery portion and a plurality of air inlet and outlet openings for said air duct portion, means including partitions in Dsald air duct portion for providing a plurality of ducts extending from said openings and opening into said machinery portion of said casing, a removable frame arranged in said machinery portion of said casing and having mounted there- ;on a'refrigerating machine provided with an air cooling element, means including a baflle arranged on said frame and adapted to engage at least one of said partitions when said frame is in place in said casing for completing two air circulating paths through said casing and for sealing the space surrounding said cooling element from the space surrounding the remainder of said refrigerating machine, each of said paths having one of saidinlet openings at one end thereof and one of said outlet openings at the other end thereof, a portion of said refrigerating machine being arranged in one of said paths and said air cooling element being arranged in the other of said paths, means for circulating air through said one of said paths to 0001 said portion of said refrigerating machine, and means for circulating air through said other of said paths over said air cooling element to cool the air in said enclosure.

3. Apparatus for conditioning the air within an enclosure including a casing-having an air digc t portion and a machinery portion and a plurality of air inlet and outlet openings for said air duct portion thereof, means including partitions in said air duct portion for providing a plurality of ducts extending from said openings and opening into said machinery portion of said casing, a removable frame arranged in said machinery portion of said casing and having a refrigerating machine including an evaporator and a condenser mounted thereon, means including a baflle arranged on said frame and adapted to engage at least one of said partitions when said frame is in place in said casing for completing two air circulating paths through said casing and for sealing the space surrounding said evaporator from the space surrounding said condenser, each of said paths having one of said inlet openings at one end thereof and one of said outlet openings at the other end thereof, said evaporator being arranged in one of said paths and said condenser being arranged in the other of said paths, means for circulating air through said one of said paths over said evaporator for cooling the air in said enclosure, and means for circulating air through said other of said paths to cool said condenser.

4. Apparatus for conditioning the air within an enclosure including a casing having an air duct portion and a machinery portion and a plurality of air inlet and outlet openings for said air duct portion, means including partitions in said casing for providing a plurality of ducts extending from said openings and opening into said machinery portion of said casing, a removableframe arranged in said machinery portion of said casing and having a refrigerating machine including an evaporator and a condenser mounted thereon, means including a plurality of bafiles arranged on said frame and adapted to cooperate with said partitions when said frame is in place in said casing for completing two air circulating paths through said casing, one of said baliles being adapted to engage at least one of said partitions and being arranged to seal the space surrounding said evaporator from the space surrounding said condenser, each of said paths having one of said inlet openings at one end thereof and one of said outlet openings at the other end thereof, said evaporator being arranged in one of said paths and said condenser being arranged in the other of said paths, means circulating air through said one of said paths over said evaporator for cooling the air in said enclosure, means for circulating air through said other of said paths to cool said condenser, and means arranged in the path of the air circulating over said condenser for collecting water condensed on said evaporator and for absorbing said water in the air circulated over said condenser to discharge said water from said casing.

- 5. Apparatus for conditioning the air within an enclosure including a casing having an air duct portion and a machinery portion and a plurality of air inlet and outlet openings for said air duct portion, means including partitions in said air duct portion of said casing for providing a plurality of ducts extending from said openings, all of said ducts opening into said machinery portion of said casing, a removable frame arranged in said machinery portion of said casing and having mounted thereon a refrigerating machine and an air cooling element therefor, means including a baiile arranged on said frame and adapted to engage at least one of said partitions when said frame is in place in said casing for completing two air circulating paths through said casing and for sealing the space surrounding said cooling element from the space surrounding the remainder of said refrigerating machine, each of said paths having one of said inlet openings at one end thereof and one of said outlet openings at the other end thereof, a portion of said refrigerating machine being arranged in one of said paths and said air cooling element being arranged in the other of said paths, means including a fan arranged in the outlet portion of said one of said paths for circulating air through said one of said paths to cool said portion of said refrigerating machine, and means including a second fan arranged in the inlet portion of said other of said paths for circulating air through said other of said paths over said air cooling element for cooling the air in said enclosure.

6, Apparatus for conditioning the air within an enclosure including a casing having an air duct portion and a'machinery portion and a plurality of air inlet and outlet openings for said air duct portion, means including partitions in said air duct portion of said casing for providing a plurality of ducts extending from said openings and opening into said machinery portion of said casing, a removable frame arranged in said machinery portion of said casing and having mounted thereon a refrigerating machine and an air cooling element therefor, means including a bafiie arranged on said frame and adapted to engage at least one of said partitions when said frame is in place in said casing for completing two air circulating paths through said casing and for sealing the space surrounding said cooling element from the space surrounding the remainderof said refrigerating machine, each of said paths having one of said inlet openings at one end thereof and one of said outlet openings at the other end thereof, a portion of said refrigerating machine being arranged in one of 5 said paths and said air cooling element being arranged in the other of said paths, means including a fan arranged in the outlet portion of said one of said paths to cool said portion of said refrigerating machine,- means including a 10 second fan arranged in the inlet portion of said other of said paths for circulating air through said other of said paths over said air cooling element for cooling the air in said enclosure, and

a motor for driving said fans, said motor being arranged'in said one of said paths.

SAMUEL J. LEVINE. 

